•“Medea is NOT happy.” –Maria •“Where can I get a golden

chariot?” –Brittany•“A must see…Medea is

emblematic of motherhood!” –Karin

•“Not a bedtime story for the kids.” -Kate

Euripides…

Cave-dwelling-misogynist-who-was-killed-by-dogs

OR Genius?

Life Before Tragedy

c. 480-406 BCBorn on the island of Salamis (his parents fled there from the Persians)His father was promised by an oracle to have a son that was honored by all men and consecrated by wreaths. So he was trained to be an athlete and he won some prizes.He also became a painter.He is said to have been deserted by his wife, with whom he was deeply in love. (This might explain the contrast between his writings against women on one hand, and, on the other, the beauty and strength of his female characters.)

Plays• Then he decided to write tragedy!• He lived a retired life, had a very valuable library, and spent most of

his time in dramatic composition (alone with his books in a cave on the island of Salamis)

• He presented first set of tragedies at the Great Dionysia in 455 when he was 24 (he came in 3rd)

• He did not win first prize until 441• Medea 431- he won third prize (ouch!)• He only won five awards, and the fifth was not awarded until after

his death• He wrote about 92 plays (19 survive) in his lifetime and was

compared by the ancients to Aeschylus and Sophocles.• Ancients ranked Bacchae and Iphigenia in Tauris as his best works.

Like Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, Euripides' Medea, ranked (with Hippolytus) as his masterpiece, was defeated in the contest. These two dramas are the greatest and most original of his creations.

He was “Different”• He did not cater to the fancies of the Athenian crowd (so he didn’t win many

awards)• He was a pacifist, a free thinker, and a humanitarian (which in Athens at that

time was bad)• Of the three great tragic poets of Greece, Euripides was by far the most

modern. As the first of the "realists" he brought realism in clothes, conversation and character to the Greek stage. He was a pioneer in tragi-comedy.

• He went out of his way to that the sun was a flaming stone (and not a chariot pulled by a god), that the overflow of the Nile is caused by the melting of the snow in Ætheopia, and that the sky is not an embodiment of a god.

• Euripides was the first one to introduce women on the stage, not as heroines but as they are in actual life.

• He abandoned the principle of the older tragedians, that all the interest and action should be concentrated in one character and theme, as in the Prometheus, Agamemnon, or Oedipus; and in many other respects he seems to break away from the canons of Greek tragic art.

• Perhaps his finest contribution to world drama, however, was the introduction of the common man to the stage. (Almost as if he wanted to show the Athenian people what their beloved military heroes were really like.)

His Life Became a Tragedy…

• One by one, his closest friends were banished and murdered by the State for their liberal views. The only thing that saved Euripides from the same fate was the fact that it was his characters who spoke improprieties. In the end, however, he was finally tried for impiety and left Athens.

• However, he was attacked by ferocious hounds, and mangled by them…so he died soon after, at the age of 75.

But His Legacy Lives On…

• For the tragedians of later times Euripides was the absolute model and pattern, and equally so for the poets of the new comedy.

• He was admired by Alexander the Great. (yeah!)• Among the Romans, too, he was held in high

esteem, serving as a model for tragedy.

•And I think he was a pretty cool guy!

The First Production of Medea

- Medea was first produced in 431 B.C. - It was presented at Dionysia, a large religious festival in

ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus.

- The central event of Dionysia was the performance of tragedies and comedies.

- Euripedes presented several plays at this event in 431 B.C. including Medea, Philoctetes, Dictys and Theristae.

- Medea received third place, but is the only play out of those listed to survive today.

- The production of Medea was performed by Greek men and the Chorus was made up of Athenian citizens.

Background to The Myth

King Aeetes' most valuable possession was a golden ram's fleece. When Jason and the crew of the Argo

arrived at Colchis seeking the Golden Fleece, Aeetes was unwilling to relinquish it and set Jason a series of seemingly impossible tasks as the price of obtaining

it. Medea fell in love with Jason and agreed to use her magic to help him, in return for Jason's promise to

marry her.

Jason fled in the Argo after obtaining the golden fleece, taking Medea and her younger brother,

Absyrtis, with him. King Aeetes pursued them. In order to delay the pursuit, Medea killed her brother and cut his body into pieces, scattering the parts

behind the ship. The pursuers had to stop and collect Absyrtis' dismembered body in order to give it proper

burial, and so Jason, Medea and the Argonauts escaped.

James Hunter

Medea’s Myth Jason and Medea later settled in Corinth. There Medea bore Jason two

children before Jason forsook her in order to marry the daughter of Creon, the king of Corinth. Medea got revenge for Jason's desertion by killing the new bride with a poisoned robe and crown which burned the flesh from her body; King Creon died as well when he tried to embrace his dying daughter. Medea fled Corinth in a chariot, drawn by winged

dragons, which belonged to her grandfather Helios. She took with her the bodies of her two children, whom she had murdered in order to give

Jason further pain.

Medea then took refuge with Aegeus, the old king of Athens, having promised him that she would use her magic to enable him to have more

children. She married Aegeus and bore him a son, Medus. But Aegeus had

another son, Theseus. When Theseus returned to Athens, Medea tried to trick her husband into poisoning him. She was unsuccessful, and had to flee Athens, taking Medus with her. After leaving Athens, Medus became

king of the country which was later called Media.

WHO and WHAT is tragic?

• Aristotle says…-character must be good-must be appropriate-true to life-consistent or consistently inconsistent

(what?)• Tragic event must be brought about not by

vice or depravity, but by some ERROR or FRAILTY.

LET’S MEET OUR CONTESTANTS

Tragic Hero #1

• Medea:Esteemed/renowned person

Tragic error- anger/bitterness (more of a vice)

Not appropriate for woman. Unscrupulously clever!

“deus ex machina”- saved via chariot of dragons

NO GOOD!

Tragic Hero #2

• JasonRenownedAppropriate to character- man/dominantVery true to lifeTragic error: breaks oath of gods

between him and Medea, resulting from Pride

WINNER!

Reversal of Fortune

Medea• Although Medea has

comitted several violent acts, her life is good (she is happily married with two sons) until she realizes that her actions were done in vain and that Jason has chosen another bride.

Jason• He believes that the

order in his life has been restored (that he can live happily with his princess and his sons and that Medea will be gone with no problems). The reversal occurs when his new wife and sons are killed by Medea and her magic.

Recognition

Medea

• Ignorance: – Being hurt by Jason and

not knowing what to do.

• Knowledge:– Finding the most effective

way to cause Jason the maximum amount of pain.

Jason

• Ignorance: – Believes that Medea is

telling the truth and will not harm him or the people that he loves.

• Knowledge:– Realizing that he should

not have trusted Medea!

(She’s Crazy!)

but on the body put no stamp by which one should distinguish a bad man?”

“O Zeus, why have you given men clear ways to recognize what gold is counterfeit,

The Chorus- The Chorus is composed of the women of Corinth. - The Chorus serves as a commentator to the action and a mediator between the audience and the characters. -Two characters emerge out of the Chorus - The Nurse and the Tutor. These characters allow the Chorus to become more relatable for the reader. The Nurse and Tutor reveal the plot, while serving as the moral compass of the play. - The Chorus presents the question – Should we fear or pity Medea?

Something Interesting…Nurse. …For first, I say, the name of Moderationhas a better ring than that of Greatness, and in experienceit proves by far the best for men—while Excess brings no profit to mortalsand, when the god has grown angry with the house,it pays the penalty of greater ruin.(lines 125-130)

Medea. …O Zeus, why have you given men clear ways to recognizewhat gold is counterfeit, but on the body put no stamp bywhich one should distinguish a bad man?(lines 517-519)

Messenger. …I have long thought that man’s life is merely a shadow, and I should not fear to say that those who seem to be wise asthey anxiously ponder their words of wisdom convict them-selves of the greatest folly. For no man is ever truly happy.One may have better luck than another if wealth pours in—but that is not real happiness.(lines 1223-1230)

Medea. He has a woman who supplants me as mistress of hishouse.Aegeus. Surely, he has not been so brazen as to act in soshameful a way?(lines 695-698)

Food for thought

• Who is the tragic hero? If Medea is the tragic hero, what is her error?

• Would the play be significantly different without the characters of the nurse/tutor?

• Is Medea meant to be pitied by the audience? If not, why is the Chorus on her side?

• Does our interpretation of the relationship between Jason/Medea reflect a double standard of our culture? Why should Medea surrender her anger?

Images of Medea

Images of Medea

Images of Medea